In this blog, I reflect on Bible Trivia questions. The questions come from Bible Bafflers. The game’s cards are divided into five categories and I review one card for each day of the traditional workweek. The topics are: People (Monday), Other Bafflers (Tuesday), New Testament (Wednesday), Old Testament (Thursday), Geography/History (Friday).

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Don’t Count Your Chickens (Proverbs 27:1)

Complete this Proverb: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for ____________________________________________.” You do not know what a day may bring forth (Proverbs 27:1)

Proverbs 27:1-22 constitutes a unit of sayings (Proverbs 27:1-22). Bruce K. Waltke (b. 1930) explains that this section of Proverbs “is a relecture of once isolated proverbs. As such, its proverbs can be interpreted both individually and as part of a whole. For example, its frame in light of the whole composition features the necessity of friends praising each another (Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31 (NICOT), 372).” The unit begins by admonishing against self praise, namely future successes. It echoes the modern saying “don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.”

Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1 NASB)

Humans cannot boast of tomorrow because it overshoots their capacity. One of the limitations of the human condition is an inadequate knowledge of the future. No triumph is assured. There is a famous Yiddish saying that captures the tone of this proverb - Man tracht und Gott lacht - humans plan and God laughs.

How would you rewrite this proverb in your own words? When you think of the future, does it excite or scare you? Or both?

While boasting of the future is discouraged, the inverse is also true. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:30 NASB)

Our limited knowledge of the future also means that hopelessness is as foolish as bravado. John Claypool (1930-2005) consistently reminded his congregation that “despair is presumptuous”.

As an old rabbi once said to me, “Despair is presumptuous. It is saying something about the future that we have no right to say. If God can make the things that are out of the things that are not, and can make dead things come to life again, who are we to set limits on what that kind of potency might yet do with what we have done?” (Claypool, God The Ingenious Alchemist: Transforming Tragedy Into Blessing, 21)

What can we say for certain about tomorrow? What is the proper attitude towards tomorrow?

1 comment:

“Despair is presumptuous” was one of Dr. Claypool’s catchphrases. It appears in four of his books.: First to Follow: The Apostles of Jesus (p. 45), God: The Ingenious Alchemist (p. 21), The Hopeful Heart (p. 19), and Tracks of a Fellow Struggler (p. 15, 16).

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In this blog, I reflect on Bible Trivia questions. The questions come from Bible Bafflers. The game’s cards are divided into five categories and I review one card for each day of the traditional workweek. The topics are: People (Monday), Other Bafflers (Tuesday), New Testament (Wednesday), Old Testament (Thursday), Geography/History (Friday).

I will reflect on the question that either piques my interest or the card that I know the least about. The intent is to produce 3-5 posts each week.

The goals of this blog are to (1) Engage in dialogue about the Bible with anyone who has interest; (2) Provide my congregation with a resource for Bible study throughout the week (and not just on Sunday); (3). Provide my friends with a daily devotional; and (4) Give myself an outlet for thought and accountability.

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■I am the senior pastor of Rutledge Baptist Church in Rutledge, Tennessee. (The name is not just a clever marketing ploy.) It is located in Grainger County a.k.a. Tomato Country.

■I am a Baptist who has lived his entire life in the south but am not in any way affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

■In my time in Grainger County, to support members, I have gone to chicken judging contests, taken ballroom dancing lessons, had rotten tomatoes thrown at me, and arm wrestled an eight year old member in the sanctuary. I lost.

■I attempt to always motivate myself and my congregation through love and never via fear.

■I am often told that I seem too young to be a senior pastor though I am uncertain if that is based upon my youthful appearance and exuberance or any striking immaturity I may exhibit.

■I have adopted a principle based system of ethics. As a rule, I loathe deontological ethics.

■I am single and may serve the only church in history with a Pastor’s Wife Search Committee.

■I am known for being transparent, often to a fault. I have one and only one secret and those close to me know it as well.

■I serve on the boards of Appalachian Outreach, the Community Benevolence Committee, Leadership Grainger, and the Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. I volunteer at the Samaritan House.

■I have coached teeball the last two years. My undertaking to name my glorious franchise “The Bible Beaters” was rejected.

■I value education.

■I graduated from the McAfee School of Theology (a subsidiary of Mercer University in the ATL). I was Peter Rhea Jones’ assistant and learned at the feet of John Claypool. Had I gained nothing form my seminary experience but the time with Claypool, the three years would have been worth it.

■I am soon to complete a second master’s in Educational Psychology with a concentration in Adult Learning from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

■I learn best in dialogue.

■I am an only child. I have never even owned a pet. My parents offered a dog when I was child with the provision that I be responsible for its care. After estimating the workload, I respectfully declined the offer.

■I lived the first six years of my life in Newport, Tennessee, and the remainder of my upbringing was done in Knoxville. West High School, Class of 1996.

■First Baptist Church of Newport and the Central Baptist Church of Bearden served as my home churches. Every pastor I ever had possessed a doctorate (Stan Rushing, Bill Bruster, Larry Fields).

■I talk very fast.

■I collect books and movies. Between a former job at Movies 4 Sale and living a great deal of my life near McKay’s Used Books and CDs, I own more books and DVDs than anyone you know.

■Peyton Manning is my favorite athlete. Unless I am in need of someone to impregnate unwed super models, I would choose Manning over Tom Brady every time.

■I like to play team trivia at restaurants with my team, Tiger Blood. Yes, we named our team after a Charlie Sheen expression. We even bought t-shirts from him. Did I mention I am a nerd?